MANILA – Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan stressed the need for structural, legislative, and budgetary reforms to prevent the multi-billion-peso sugar industry from collapsing amid rising production costs, declining farmgate prices, and insufficient government support.

Pangilinan, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, held a public consultation with sugar planters in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, to identify challenges and seek solutions to stabilize prices and incomes, address structural bottlenecks, and implement a comprehensive sugar industry roadmap.

“This public consultation matters because real reform cannot be designed from Congress alone. I personally commit to translating your inputs into legislative and budgetary action,” Pangilinan said.

He urged participants to provide concrete proposals on price floors, program design, Sugarcane Industry Development Act (SIDA) priorities, and meaningful reforms at the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA). “Let us be frank, practical, and help one another so that the sugar industry can once again be a source of stability, not uncertainty, for Negros and the nation,” he added.

As sponsor of the Department of Agriculture budget, Pangilinan had proposed a P2-billion allocation for the SRA to revitalize the sugar sector. The Department of Budget and Management, citing underutilization and limited absorptive capacity, approved a P1.02-billion appropriation for 2026 instead.

SRA reports show a decline in operating facilities, with raw sugar mills dropping from 28 in 2018 to 25 in 2025—13 of which are in Negros Island—and sugar refineries falling from 13 to 10, only five of which produce premium-grade refined sugar.

Farmgate prices have also fallen, with sugar selling for P2,150 to P2,300 per 50-kilogram bag last year, while production costs average P2,500 per bag, leaving many small planters in financial strain.

“We are here with one purpose: to listen, to be candid about the crisis we face, and to agree on practical and sustainable solutions that protect farmers, workers, communities, and the industry,” Pangilinan said.